Thread: Skin-picking
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Old 11-13-2007, 06:25 PM   #1 (permalink)
tellus
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Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Madison, WI
Posts: 992
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Skin-picking

I have dermatotillomania, a cousin of trichotillomania. It's not DSM-recognized, but I believe it's a real disorder.

Basically, I pick. Any rough edge on my skin, any little scrape or cut, I have to pick at it. I pull at any rough edges until it's either smooth or bleeding so badly that I can't pick at it anymore. I haven't worn shorts in years because the scars on my legs are so bad.

Does anyone else have experience with this? If so, how do you deter yourself from doing it?

(I have mentioned this to various doctors, but they invariably ignore it. Literally, they don't even acknowledge that I've said anything, they just move on to the next subject. One doctor will occasionally ask "how's the picking?" but he's never offered any advice towards trying to stop it.)
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